Evaluate Your Business Goals Throughout the Year to Succeed
It’s Okay to Move the Goalposts!
Evaluate Your Business Goals Throughout the Year to Succeed
As entrepreneurs, we often start our year by setting lofty goals. Our goals help us align our day-to-day activities with a longer range plan and help all members of the organization understand their roles. But as we move into Q2, we can see where we’re succeeding and where we’re falling short. The good news: goals can be set or reevaluated at any given time. So can your long-term plans.
I’m currently working with a long-term client who has achieved all the goals in their original marketing plan that I created for them in 2020. They’ve used this success as a launching point to achieve more by moving the goalposts and have asked my team, “ What else can you do for us?”
This is a great mindset because they know they have to adapt to stay relevant in their field and they know they can’t do it all by themselves. And that’s okay!
Here’s a few ways you can move the goalposts and take your business to the next level:
Crunch the Numbers
Don’t we all want to reduce costs and save time? Take meetings, for example. There are plenty of meetings we’ve sat through that could have been emails. Consider a standing meeting or Zoom call and limiting the time to 15-30 minutes a week. Another tip: Instead of a meeting or an email, I like to use Zoom to record a short video explanation versus sending a long email or scheduling a meeting.
A good goal is specific and quantifiable, like increasing your sales by 50% by the end of the year. Make it a goal to look at your numbers, whether it’s time spent or dollars and cents.
Find Inefficiencies
There are likely tasks within your organization that could be eliminated and steps that could be consolidated.
Consider outsourcing tasks that may not be in your wheelhouse. Do you spend time and energy trying to decide what to post on social media? Are you doing your own bookkeeping and it is taking up most of your day? Some work can be done more efficiently by an expert and be cheaper in the long run. This will free up your time to focus on the goals that play to your strengths and bring you closer to your goals.
Not sure where to begin with finding efficiencies? A good start is to periodically log your time throughout the day noting what you are spending time on. As a business leader, consider prioritizing your time on the revenue generating tasks and delegating those that are repetitive and less important. This will free you up to keep your business progressing toward your goals.
Evaluate Your Competitors
Take a look at your competition. What are they doing well and where do they need improvement? Through consistent analysis you may find gaps in what your potential customers need versus what is available in the market. You can also find things that make you different from your competition and allow you to stand out.
Set a goal to find three things that set you apart and position yourself to fill the gap where your competitors fall short.
Engage With Your Customers
It costs five to seven times more to acquire a new customer than to retain an existing customer. You can nurture your existing relationships and provide more products or services to existing customers with consistent communication. Consider a consistent email marketing campaign, create incentives or build a loyalty program to keep your customers engaged and coming back. When you are consistent with communication, you remain top of mind to those customers and they may purchase from you more frequently. Another plus is that because you are on their minds, they are more likely to send you a referral through word of mouth!
Keep Up With Industry Trends
Technology marches on, and we must adapt to stay relevant. This means different things for different types of businesses but is important for all of us. Staying current might mean you need a new website that can handle sales funnels, or you may need to build a presence on an emerging social media platform. Identifying emerging trends and technologies will give you a greater competitive advantage.
Plans Change, So Can Your Goals
Marketing plans are an essential tool to building a strong and profitable company. They don’t have to be lengthy and complicated but they do need to include what you are going to spend your time and money on, and why. A good marketing plan should have some room to be flexible. If unforeseen circumstances keep you from reaching your goals, you can adjust to a more realistic target. But if you’re crushing it, set some stretch goals and see how high you fly! And remember, it is okay to move that goalpost.